PALM SPRING NM, [ILLEGIBLE]Date unknown

On the night of July 26, 1952, multiple witnesses in the Palm Springs, California area reported seeing unidentified flying objects moving across the sky over several hours. The sightings began around 12:15 a.m. PST and continued until roughly 3:35 a.m., with objects described as white to orange-red lights coming from round or diamond-shaped craft. Witnesses reported the objects moving erratically, sometimes appearing stationary, other times moving at high speed in different directions, including moving back and forth between Palm Springs and the San Jacinto Mountains.

The first reported sighting occurred at 12:54 a.m. near Beaumont Pass, California, where observers saw a flashing blue and yellow object traveling east at high altitude. About 12:58 a.m., the same or a similar object appeared over Palm Springs itself, moving fast though occasionally stopping. At 2:25 a.m., an object was spotted moving north from Palm Springs and emitting considerable light. By 2:33 a.m., witnesses saw the object moving back and forth between Palm Springs and the mountains. At 3:06 a.m., the object was observed standing completely still for a full five minutes. Around 3:30 a.m., as the craft came closer, observers heard what sounded like jet engine noise. A separate object moving eastward and flashing reddish-orange was spotted shortly after. Three civilian women in Palm Springs provided most of these observations. Additionally, a C-47 aircraft pilot flying westbound toward Los Angeles reported seeing a bright light at 3:12 a.m., approximately 25 miles south of Needles, California, that appeared to light up the ground about 30 degrees to the right of his course.

The weather in the area was clear with good visibility throughout the sighting period, making observations favorable. Winds at various altitudes ranged from calm at ground level to 25 knots at higher elevations. Two known civilian airliners were in the region during the sighting: American Airlines Flight 900, a DC-6 at 15,000 feet, and TWA Flight 5, a DC-3 at 10,000 feet. The Air Force's preparing officer noted that no formal interrogation of the witnesses was conducted and therefore no assessment could be made of their aerial observer qualifications. Additional reports from radar sites and other locations appear in the file, including observations of a silver-white oval object with a fire wake behind it, observed briefly at Castle Air Force Base in South Dakota, and reports of a large, circular, light grey object traveling at high speed near Pleasant Hill, California. The file contains no stated conclusion from the Air Force regarding the nature of these sightings.

This case file consists of 39 pages as held by the National Archives.